Thread: My razor vibrates

In my search for a good shave I recently found that I have been going in the wrong direction. Fortunately I have a real barber that I just happend to ask for a hot shave a few times and decided I liked how it felt and have been doing some research on what it took to do it at home. All I can say is wow, there is a lot of info on SR shaving, lol. The number of member, posts etc on this forum astounds me, not to mention all the info outside of this site as well. With all that info I still seem lost and have a few questions.. some maybe from too much info being out there so I just cant find it.

Most, well all I have seen, of you all are clean shaven. I generally keep some sort of beard. Call me crazy, but sometime during college either my chin dissapeared or my neck got so big it swalloed it.. probably the later. So right now I have a very thin chin strap beard, but the beard increases.. decreases in volume but never dissapears. Right now it requires sculpting, and I am slightly concerned about this with a SR as I just don't see many resources out there for face scaping with a SR. Right now I use a Mach 5 on the big stuff, and then get the old Bic single blade to shape. I plan on replacing just the Mach with a SR until I really get the hang of it. It seems a square point might help with this, but I understand you are more prone to cutting yourself with this so it is probably not the best to start with. Any resources/opinions out there?

Also a few questions on stuff I need to get. I have seen some say they use a strop with two sides cloth and leather. Is this easier to start out with, or just personal preference? I was looking at one of the "house brand" strops from either SRD or Vintage Blades, but they look like just leather. Also is the wider strop easier to start with? There seems to be a lot of personal preference with any aspect of SR shaving, but being a newb I have no preference so I'm trying to go for the easier way to start with I suppose.

I was thinking of a Dovo for a first blade. They seem well constructed and easy to find. Again this would come from SRD or Vintage so that the blade was shave ready. I was looking in the $150 range, so Bismarck, Carpe Diem, Pearlex etc... Something 5/8, rounded edge, hollowed, in carbon.. Anyone have reccomendations or is this again a preference matter. Want to get a blade I could still use in the future but not mess up a very expensive blade.

I plan on easing in to it for a while. Right now I'm just going to get a brush and start working on prep, and then when I get the hang of that I'll start little by little using a SR.

Thank you guys! Looking forward to shaving adventure.

Welcome to srp!

Actually a fair number of folks have facial topary. the square point or perhaps a muted spike will give you great selectivity in trimming. get yourself a nice starter set form one of the many vendors either vintage or new depending on your wallet and preferences. as for strops that is also a matter of taste. i prefer a double strop linen(or canvas) and leather. mainly i use a 3" strop but i have and use a couple of 2.5" models, mainly vintage ones.

lots of shaving related items are personal taste things, you really just need a sharp razor and a strop and the patience to learn.

i normally suggest a new member buys a vintage blade from a vendor in the classifieds or vendor section, then when they get some shaves under their belt and want to upgrade the sky (or your wallet or SWMBO) is the limit.

BTW, as for the vibratiting thing, put that back in the little woman's nightstand before she notices it missing!

All of what I read said to stay away from a square or spiked point at first. Is that just a matter of opinion? Or since it is most likely what I will be using, and have a use for what I should start out with and learn to use correctly?

Not afraid of SR shaving, but I still do not have a desire to cut the crap out of myself either.

I suppose with the strop, I might as well get a double, and if I don't like it just use one side

Originally Posted by JordanM

All of what I read said to stay away from a square or spiked point at first. Is that just a matter of opinion? Or since it is most likely what I will be using, and have a use for what I should start out with and learn to use correctly?

Not afraid of SR shaving, but I still do not have a desire to cut the crap out of myself either.

I suppose with the strop, I might as well get a double, and if I don't like it just use one side

The opinion of not starting with a spike or square point comes mainly from experience. It is very easy to cut yourself with either if you let your attention wander for a slight second, plus they love to "bite" earlobes. As for the strop, most straight shavers first strop on the linen/canvas/webbing side and then on the leather side before shaving.

Originally Posted by JordanM

All of what I read said to stay away from a square or spiked point at first. Is that just a matter of opinion? Or since it is most likely what I will be using, and have a use for what I should start out with and learn to use correctly?

Not afraid of SR shaving, but I still do not have a desire to cut the crap out of myself either.

I suppose with the strop, I might as well get a double, and if I don't like it just use one side

My noob opinion is to start with the spike. I started with a round point, but shortly after I bought a bunch of spikes and re-learned how to shave with them. Might as well start with what you plan on staying with.

BTW, I just got rid of my last round point razor. I just don't enjoy shaving with them since I mastered the spike.

edit: I use the term "mastered" loosely lol

I'd start with a round point. You'll find plenty of ways to cut yourself without adding to it with a spike. Just ask my earlobe!

Go for it get the earlobe slicer. You will learn quickly to respect the point and enjoy the precision immediately. The square point will allow you to easily remove single whiskers and maintain very straight beard lines.

Thank you guys for your replies. If the earlobe is the main concern for the spike or square point then I shouldn't have that issue as I have a beard safety bumper in between. Would have never know that was the main issue if you guys hadn't chimed in, thank you! I'm thinking square point at this time and then move up to a spiker but who knows.

Any recommendations on a square Dovo that one of the usual vendors carries? Or is all the metal about the same and the rest just preference? I'd rather start out with a new blade, as I'm sure I'll be chasing some vintage blades on down the line.

Too much pressure, and incorrect angle will cut your neck also. Learned that the hard way with a inch plus cut.

I don't have any experience with new razors, can't help you there.

Grover, Awesome! That is the one I ended up getting. SRD had their wet shaving kit on sale with the Carpe, so I got that with the upgraded strop and some Dominica Bay Rum and Proraso cream. Also have the Trumpers test set coming in. I think I'm set... for now at least.

Will probably pick up a few cheaper vintage blades once I'm a little more educated. I'm thinking the Red Imp seems to be well liked along with Boker and a few of the cheaper Double Ducks... so variable though, will have to do some more research.

Grover, what kind of bass is that in your Avatar? I'm a low end guy myself, but can't place that one. I'm thinking my RAD is just a spin off of GAS of basses and the like